What Is a Comic, a Graphic Novel, and a Manga?

First, let’s define the terms comic, graphic novel, and manga before we continue.

“Comics, like music, are a medium. The graphic novel is a format used to deliver the medium like a cd is a format for delivering music. A graphic novel is just a longer format comic book,” explains John Shableski aka The Graphic Novels Guy and my go-to source for everything comic.

Shableski patiently explains that graphic novels are NOT a genre. Even if you read it on well-known sites like these — here, here, and here.

He elaborates, “The term graphic novel is really a misnomer. Graphic implies art and the word novel adds even more confusion. People are often confused by the use of the word graphic because they think it implies pornography. Now we can use terms like graphic nonfiction, graphic fiction, graphic mysteries etc. to describe the many genres within the comics storytelling world.”

Manga is the Japanese term that describes a comic format. For adults, it is a challenge to read mangas because they are read backward. In other words, they’re read right to left not left to right. But kids of any reading level have an amazing ability to adapt to the format. Part of it is due to the fascination with the stories and the other is because most adults can’t read it. Be cautious with mangas because there are many choices with mature content.

(By the way, I can’t read mangas! Can you?)

Hopefully, you’re clear about the differences between these terms now. Let’s move on…

8 Reasons to Let Your Kids Read Graphic Novels

1. They are fun to read. Why does reading have to be miserable? It doesn’t. Which is why I love to read YA more than Dickins. While I do read literature, it’s not always fun.

2. Graphic novels contain the same story elements and literary devices as narrative stories — characters, conflict, resolution, setting, symbolism, theme, point of view, and so forth. This is important to consider because good readers need to understand literary devices and narrative elements and use those to comprehend what they read.

3. The visual format provides built-in context clues. Because comics are visual, even if the text is difficult, the visuals give the reader support in comprehending the story. Just like good readers use the picture clues in a picture book to support their understanding of the story, good readers reading graphic novels do the same thing.

4. Reading a graphic novel is a different process of reading requiring a lot of inference. With a comic, readers must rely on the dialogue, transition text, and the illustrations. The reader is required to infer what is not written out by a narrator, a complex, high-level reading strategy. The next time you read a comic strip like Peanuts, consider what is not said that you inferred to make sense of it.

5. Readers need variety in their reading diet.We can’t read one thing all the time or we’ll get bored and stop growing as readers.

6. We’re a visual culture and the visual sequence of comics makes sense to kids.

7. Reading comics may lead to drawing and writing comics. Linking reading and writing is important. Comic book creation is particularly enticing for kids who prefer drawing to writing normally but make exceptions for dialogue bubbles.

8. The growing selection of choices is bigger, better, and reaches a wider age-range than ever before. Every month more titles enter the market for younger readers and provide high-quality reading choices from which to choose.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I liked what you said about how reading a comic book is a different process of reading using a lot of inference. My son is having trouble understanding some types of reading and I’m wondering if comic books might help expand how he looks at situations. Thank you for the information about how a reader of comics must infer what isn’t written out by a narrator.

Awesome post and very viable reason. I myself read Marvel, some Dc comics and a bit of other comics. I did have a love of reading, fantasy and a bit of talent when it came to drawing. I had to give it up when I got married – all the “be an adult thing” but when my kids came a long, oh I had fun bringing out the old comic book collection and wowing them with my minimal drawing skills. I don’t think comics motivated my children to read, but they did enjoy them are avid readers just like me. Again, great post.

Comic Book Classroom has been doing this for years. (comicbookclassroom DOT org) We’re a 501c3 that promotes literacy through comics in the classroom and our free after-school curriculum. We raise funds for the program through the Denver Comic Con (denvercomiccon DOT com) – which after 3 years is the 3rd largest pop-culture event in the U.S.; the con has over 300 hours of programming aimed at educating teachers, kids and the general public about the value of comics and other media to encourage kids to learn and read.

The school librarian started my son out with Bone by Jeff Smith in 3rd grade… he LOVES them, we bought them all, he still goes back to them from time to time. The best part now is he will read real books.

Great post, Melissa! When I taught 6th grade 40+ years ago I found comics to be the one and only tool I had for a few children who were sadly far behind grade level. Comics were devoured! I think of those children often now in relation to the variety I could offer today.

I take issue with this line of thinking. There’s good reason to think that when you teach kids to do easy things, they just continue doing easy things. You should give your children strange, difficult, foreign books because it will teach them to enjoy strange, difficult and foreign things.

Want another? When we have conversations with kids, we use 9 rare words per 1,000 words we say. When we read books to kids, there are 27 rare per 1,000 words we read. Graphic novels are the all-stars– they have 53 rare words per 1,000! Great, fun vocabulary lesson anyone? All these stats are averages of course. And, apologies, I am too lazy to find the source at the moment.

Love it! ANYTHING that gets kids excited about reading and writing is a great thing. Our comic book writing class is one of our most popular – it’s amazing to see how much plot some children can layer in a story while being so concise!

I’ve been looking for two years for comincs for my daughter. She’s been reading since she was 3 (is now 5). I can only find graphic novels that are violent or otherwise inappropriate in one way or another in the library or at the bookstore. Where are the old-fashioned comics? We have no comics in our newspaper anymore.

Love, love, love this post! My kids read anything and everything so I know I am lucky there. This summer they found some of my older son’s Calvin and Hobbes and they just love them! I also ordered Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack. I grew up reading comics and so did my husband so this was fine with us (as long as they still read the other books). I have always looked at comics as a fun approach to reading and if they are reading, well, they are reading!

When I began homeschooling I found some graphic biographies or history from Graphic Library that are a wonderful way to educate your children and let them read comics. It’s a great bit of history and while it’s not my favorite graphics, my kids loved them and it was an extra bonus to work we were doing. There are also several available about famous women in history (Helen Keller, Anne Frank, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart to name a few).

Love it! ANYTHING that gets kids excited about reading and writing is a great thing. Our comic book writing class is one of our most popular – it’s amazing to see how much plot some children can layer in a story while being so concise!

Melissa – Great post. I agree, comics should be credible reading. They are reading and reading for fun is just as important if not more so as you become an adult. I remember loving the Garfield and Calvin and Hobbs cartoons in the paper as a kid. I would grab the Sunday paper each week and read thru them.

I have been an avid and voracious reader since I was about 6 or 7, and I have also always loved comic books. I have never worried when my kids wanted to read comics. It’s fun and enjoyable. Of course some aren’t age-appropriate, but the same holds true for more conventional novels as well.

At this point, I’m willing to try ANYTHING to get my 7-year-old excited about reading. I tried Garfield this summer and it didn’t hold her interest (though she’s obsessed with cats) so I’m going to keep trying. I grew up with an extensive collection of Archie comics.

I was skeptical about a summer reading assignment my daughter had to complete for Honors English 9. She had to read the graphic novel version of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” But I saw how it affected her and how she readily grasped the themes. Also, it really lends itself to the graphic novel format without losing the depth of the story.

I’m a convert and totally on board, as long as they are done well and used thoughtfully.

I LOVE this post and I couldn’t agree more. I just did a post on graphic novels and how it helped to motivate my not so eager reader to start to love reading. My oldest is reading V For Vendetta for his wrting class in college.

I think reason #7 above is a big one. Both of my boys eased into writing through drawing comics and slowly incorporating dialogue bubbles and captions.

I know one homeschooling mom who began homeschooling because of the bad school situation one of her boys was in. One example: his teacher would not allow him to read Calvin and Hobbs for his “free reading” requirement–even at home! (My friend and her boys named their subsequent homeschool Calvin Academy.)

Don’t forget the Babysitter’s Club books illustrated by Reina Telgemeyer, and her newest one Smile.

On a side, note, thank you! This is exactly what I’ve been trying to explain to people for ages! I review upcoming graphic novels for younger readers on my blog, and I would love to be able to link to this. This is fantastic, and even better, it looks like you’re a fellow Coloradoan!

Here’s a list of some great titles: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/11/10-great-comics-for-adolescent-girls-graphic-novel.html I’d add a few more to this list, which are more recent (as your comment is a few years old): –Princessless (about a princess warrior who doesn’t need saving because SHE’S the hero) –Amethyst (think “Shazam” meets She-ra; there’s both reprints of the old and a newer version) –Lumberjanes (hugely popular comic about a summer camp for girls where they fight monsters and solve mysteries) –Marceline (female rockstar hero from Adventure Time) –Ms. Marvel (teenage muslim superhero is one of the best comics around right now) –Spider-Gwen (Peter Parker’s teenage girlfriend takes the mantle of Spider-man) –Thor (yes, Thor! There’s a new hero of Asgard and it’s a SHE!) –The Amulet graphic novels series (Fantastic series with a young female hero having adventures in an “Oz” like world, start with “Stonekeeper”) Those should be a good start!

I agree! yeah! my children love comics, and for a while, i hesitated to let them read them…but then we found Garfield and Calvin and Hobbs! And, it snowballed from there. Now, we search for great vintage comics, and some new stuff too. Thanks for your post

[…] And I know what some of you are going to say. “If my kid is going to read something, I need to make sure it’s ‘quality reading’…blah, blah, blah.” My advice to you as an author (and really most of you reading this have probably never heard of me and I sincerely hope you’ll check out my books because I think you and your children will like them) is, “Give me a break.” Reading is reading. Any reading is good reading. (See: 8 Reasons Why Your Kids Should Read Comics.) […]